Far beyond the Wall, Meera and Bran are alone now. There doesn't seem to be anyone around, with the beating of their hearts as the only sound. They're being pursued by a horde of wights, and soon enough, Meera gives up running. Bran has flashes to a number of scenes: from the fall that crippled him to the Mad King shouting "Burn them all!" He finally awakes from his coma and says they've been found. Just as the wights descend on them, they get a savior on horseback. With a burning flail and a chain scythe, the rider makes short work of the wights and brings the two with him. Who is this man...
At last Sam, Gilly, and little Sam arrive at Horn Hill, his family estate. Sam warns Gilly not to say she's a Wildling since his father hates them. He passes Gilly off as his mistress and little Sam as their son. They are welcomed warmly by his mother and sister, the latter giving Gilly one of her dresses to wear at dinner. Sam's father, Randyll Tarly, is coldly contemptuous of everything about him. Under his questioning, Gilly lets slip her true race, which only increases his latent hostility. Even so, he agrees to let both her and little Sam stay, believing this is his grandson. Sam at first submits to this but then decides he won't leave them there, taking off with both and his family sword, Heartsbane, a Valyrian steel blade that would be useful against the White Walkers, to boot.
In King's Landing, Tommen speaks with the High Sparrow once again, who allows him to see his wife. Margaery warmly greets Tommen, and surprisingly talks positively of the High Sparrow, with deprecation toward her past sins. Tommen protests that Margaery is very charitable toward the poor, but she says this was really about her vanity in being seen to do good works. He agrees with her that the High Sparrow is very different from what they expected. Outside in the city, Mace Tyrell leads his army through the streets wearing splendid armor to where Jaime Lannister waits. Together they march to the Sept where the common people and Faith Militant are preparing for Margaery's Walk of Atonement. Jaime demands the High Sparrow release Margaery before it happens. He refuses and brushes off Jaime's threats to kill all of them by proclaiming they would gladly die in the name of their faith. A tense scene follows, broken by the High Sparrow saying it will not be necessary, as Margaery atoned already through bringing someone else to the faith. The doors of the Sept open to Tommen and his Kingsguard, astonishing Jaime. Tommen proclaims the new union of the crown and the faith. Befuddled, Mace wonders what is happening, to which his mother Lady Olenna bitterly replies that the High Sparrow has beaten them. Later in the throne room, Tommen dismisses Jaime as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard as any attack on the faith is also one on the crown. He says Jaime will not be punished though, but will serve the crown outside King's Landing. Jaime later complains to Cersei that Tommen has sent him to help Walder Frey recapture Riverrun, but vows instead to have Bronn gather a team of killers to assassinate the High Sparrow. Cersei warns against this since it would likely lead to his death, advising him to do as Tommen says. She assuages his worries over her upcoming trial by saying it will be settled through combat and the Mountain would be her champion, assuring him they will still defeat their enemies.
In Braavos, a girl watches a play reenacting the Purple Wedding. Once again, the performances are over the top, even hystrionic. Lady Crane's sorrowful performance as Cersei mourning Joffrey's death gets to a girl, however. A girl also notices Bianca, the younger actor who plays Sansa, mouthing her lines, reinforcing a girl's hunch that she is behind the assassination order. She goes backstage afterward to poison Lady Crane's rum, who stumbles upon her afterward. To cover this, a girl compliments Lady Crane's acting, who thinks she's an admirer and aspiring actor. She advises a girl on acting, and a girl in turn points out ways that the play could be made better. A girl is visibly uncomfortable after finding out how kind her target is. Lady Crane takes her tip on improving the play, but Izembaro, the troupe's leader, dismisses her in a sexist manner. A girl reappears to knock her rum aside when Lady Crane is about to drink, warning her about Bianca. The Waif is watching this as well and reports it to Jaqen. He is disappointed and grants her permission to kill a girl, who has meanwhile retrieved her sword Needle from its hiding place, reclaiming herself as Arya Stark, and now waits in the catacombs below the temple.
In The Twins, Lord Walder Frey, now with a new teenage wife, scolds his sons Black Walder and Lame Lothar for losing Riverrun to the Blackfish. They complain that they don't have enough men to beat his army, and the Brotherhood Without Banners have been periodically raiding their supply lines. Walder doesn't want to hear their excuses but says they have a bargaining chip up their sleeve. Some of his men drag in Edmure Tully, weakened and in chains. Edmure glares at the men who killed his sister Catelyn, his nephew Robb, and so many of his friends.
Back Beyond the Wall, the rider makes camp and prepares a rabbit for supper. Bran and Meera ask who he is, so he removes his scarves to reveal Benjen Stark. Overjoyed to see his long-believed dead uncle again, Bran asks what happened to him. He explains that on the night he disappeared, his team was overcome by wights and a White Walker. His Black Brothers were all killed, and the White Walker impaled him with his ice weapon and left him to die. He felt himself turning into a wight, but the Children of the Forest arrived and saved him by inserting a dragonglass dagger into his chest, the same way they created the first White Walkers. His face shows signs of decay, indicating he is at some transitional point between human, wight, and White Walker. Now, his mission is to protect Bran until he is ready to become the new Three-Eyed Raven and face the Night's King.
In the Dothraki Sea, Daenerys is riding with Daario at the head of the Dothraki horde. She asks him how long their return journey to Meereen will be, and how many ships would be needed for carrying her army over the Narrow Sea. He tells her it will be a week, and they would need over a thousand ships at least. Daenerys ponders this, and rides off ahead while telling the horde to stay behind. After a time, Daario says he will ride to go look her, but Daenerys suddenly returns on Drogon's back. She asks if the horde will cross the Narrow Sea, kill the Westerosi that would fight her and tear down their castles, as Drogo promised her. They roar their assent to this. Daenerys notes that every Dothraki khal has chosen three blood riders to be at his side leading the khalisar. However, she is not a khal and will not abide by this. Instead, all of them will be her bloodriders: the blood of her blood.
This episode contains the following tropes:
- 0% Approval Rating: Walder Frey. Years removed from the War of Five Kings and Frey has lost Riverrun to the Blackfish, while other lords of Riverrun including the Mallisters and Blackwoods have joined them, with the Brotherhood Without Banners rallying the smallfolk. In addition to that, he's still treated as an afterthought by King's Landing. The Lannisters have to send an army to take back Riverrun and bail him out.
- Abusive Parents: Lord Randyll Tarly turns out to be even worse than how Sam has beeen describing him for all these seasons. Toward Sam (though not toward his siblings), he's a strong contender for Worst Father in Westeros, and that's saying something. Tywin may have hated Tyrion, but he at least recognized his talents and knew he could perform tasks given to him. Lord Tarly shows nothing but flatout contempt and disdain towards Sam for choosing to pick up a book instead of a sword.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: The late King Aerys is briefly shown in Bran's vision and has none of the disheveled appearance he has in the books: no cut wounds from the throne, no overgrown hair and fingernails. note
- Adaptational Wimp: Black Walder Rivers, whose book counterparts "Black Walder" Frey and "Bastard Walder" Rivers are proven warriors. Likewise Lothar's planning during the Red Wedding was perfect. In the show Rivers get kicked out from Riverrun by an old man who survived the Red wedding because Lothar failed to take "he might go to the bathroom" into consideration in his plan.
- Adapted Out: There is no mention of Ser Daven Lannister, who in the books is already laying siege to Riverrun when Jaime is sent to deal with it.
- Affably Evil: A man tells Arya's would-be-assassin not to make the girl suffer, and is clearly sad of losing his pupil.
- Ancestral Weapon: Heartsbane, a Valyrian steel sword which has been in the Tarly family for 500 years.
- Anti-Intellectualism: Randyll Tarly dismisses book reading as time spent reading about "better men" (presumably warriors such as himself).
- Arranged Marriage: Lord Randyll has arranged a marriage between his daughter Talla and Simon Fossoway.
- Archnemesis Dad: Lord Randyll Tarly threatened to arrange a Hunting "Accident" if Sam, whom he deemed unworthy due to his lack of martial prowess, did not bow out of the line of succession by joining the Night's Watch. It makes their reunion an uncomfortable affair.
- Badass Pacifist: Randyll's wife has no trouble standing up to him and calling him out on his BS during the dinner. He allows the wildling to stay out of respect for his wife, not for Samwell or Gilly.
- Badass Boast: When Sam takes his family's sword, Gilly asks him if he is afraid his father will want to take it back.Sam: He can bloody well try.
- Bait-and-Switch: After Randyll agrees to house Gilly and little Sam under the condition that Samwell never returns to Horn Hill, it looks like Sam will abandon his lover and his stepchild to their safe-but-unpleasant fate. A few moments after his dramatic departure from their bedroom, he comes back and takes them (along with his father's sword) with him.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Arya was having misgivings about poisoning Lady Crane before, but the woman being friendly to her when they meet is what leads her to abort the plan and essentially give up her training to become Faceless.
- Behind the Black: Bran and Meera see and hear the wights coming from a mile off, but they - and the wights - completely miss the rider on horseback until he's right on top of them.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- Benjen Stark makes his return in inimitable form, single-handedly saving Bran and Meera from the wight horde.
- Mace and Jaime attempt to wrestle Margaery and Loras from the Faith Militant, but their plan fails almost before it starts.
- Big Good: Benjen relates that Bran is now the Three-Eyed-Raven and will face the Night King when the time comes.
- Big Fancy Castle: The Tarly seat is absolutely gigantic, but looks more like a country estate than a defensible castle.
- Bling of War: Lord Mace Tyrell's very flashy armor.
- Bodyguard Betrayal: The visions show Jaime murdering the Mad King before the Iron Throne.
- Body Horror:
- We finally get to see the Faceless Men adding a face to the hall. Or rather, removing a face from a corpse.
- Benjen's face has visible signs of decay. It's not clear though if this is an ongoing process or if the Children halted the rot when they "turned" him.
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Actress Lady Crane is complimented that the audience loved her. She laughs and says, "They were sweet. Or drunk. Drunkenly sweet."
- The Bus Came Back:
- Walder Frey finally returns, with a new wife and having lost Riverrun.
- Edmure Tully shows up as well, still a prisoner of the Freys after the Red Wedding three seasons ago.
- On top of that, we have mention of the Brotherhood Without Banners for the first time in three seasons, who since then have been causing trouble by raiding the Frey's supply lines and are now rallying the smallfolk against them.
- Needle, Arya's Cool Sword, makes a comeback after being hidden for an entire season.
- Benjen Stark, First Ranger of the Night's Watch, returns after having been conspicuously not seen (in the present) since season one.
- The Caligula: We see the Mad King through Bran's vision yelling at Jaime to burn them all.
- Call-Back:
- Walder tells his sons to bring the knives they used to kill Catelyn and Talisa respectively to the Blackfish. Also helps since Lame Lothar has been recast so saying he is the one that stabbed Robb's pregnant wife refreshed the memory well.
- Gilly defends Sam by saying him killing a Thenn and a White Walker makes him a better warrior than Randyll.
- Daario tells Daenerys she'll need at least a thousand ships to carry her army over the Narrow Sea into Westeros... exactly the number Euron Greyjoy promised he'd give her when he offers a marriage alliance.
- Similarly, Daenerys's proclamation to the united Dothraki khalasar is not only harkening back to the late Drogo's promise to her in Season 1, but also to the sworn promise Theon gave the late Robb Stark, during his crowning as King in the North.
- Came Back Strong: Benjen Stark's watch was ended by the Walkers, but The Children kept him from turning wight and gifted him with some sort of augmented or awakened power in the process, as he's able to ignite a weapon, he can foresee the future and is even aware of the actual contents of Bran's visions.
- Cannot Tell a Lie: Gilly has little experience with telling lies. As such, it doesn't take long for Randyll to start dissecting the cover story Sam asked her to keep to and discovering her true heritage as a wildling.
- Captain Obvious: Sam spelling out his apprehension to Gilly.Sam: I didn't think I'd ever come back here after my father made me renounce my title and inheritance and, well, threatened to kill me if I didn't. A person just doesn't feel welcome at that point.
- Cassandra Truth: Like with his Night's Watch brothers, when Sam mentions his slaying of the White Walker, his brother Dickon laughs and says there's no such thing, although Gilly confirms that she's seen them too.
- Chekhov's Gun: The Tarlys' ancestral sword, Heartsbane, is shown and revealed to be made from Valyrian steel. Guess what Sam ends up stealing when he and Gilly leave Horn Hill?
- The Chessmaster: The High Sparrow manages, in one fell swoop, to not only publicly outmaneuver Olenna, Jaime, and Kevan, but also make them look like exactly what's he's been preaching: people who think the rules don't apply to them. And then pours some salty lemon water into those wounds by revealing the entire affair to have been a setup arranged with Tommen to further bolster The Faith's standing with the citizens. The smirk he sends Jaime's way speaks volumes as to how much he enjoyed it.
- Come with Me If You Want to Live: A rider appears to rescue Bran and Meera in the nick of time, and then delivers the first half of the sentence.
- Composite Character:
- Benjen Stark takes over the role of Coldhands from the novels. Leaf also mentions Coldhands having been killed "a long time ago", not a few years ago, in A Dance with Dragons.
- Lothar Frey and Walder Rivers take the place of Ryman and Edwyn Frey as the Freys commanded by Lord Walder to march on Riverrun to take it from the Blackfish.
- Continuity Porn: In addition to the play reenacting the Purple Wedding and the murder of Tywin Lannister, Bran's flashes are full of brief call backs.
- Contract on the Hitman: Arya finds herself in this predicament with the Faceless Men after refusing to kill a target who does not deserve to die.
- Deadpan Snarker: Walder Frey's reaction when his sons tell them they lost Riverrun.
- Death Glare: When Edmure Tully is brought before Walder Frey, the man who not only betrayed and imprisoned him for years but also murdered his sister and nephew, he is wearing one of these.
- Jaime gives the High Septon a baleful one for corrupting Tommen into his puppet.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Jaime invokes the Divine Right of Kings to try to convince Tommen to turn against the Sparrows.
- Demoted to Extra: He has a single scene in the series, while in the novels Randyll Tarly has a bigger role in the War of the Five Kings and current Westerosi politics. He leads the center of the Tyrell army in the Battle of the Blackwater, defeats the northmen in the Battle of Duskendale, takes Maidenpool and oversees its reconstruction and arranges a marriage for Dickon with Eleanor Mooton, then marches on King's Landing after learning of Margaery's imprisonment - the High Sparrow then releases her and her cousins into his custody. Currently he's the Master of Laws for King Tommen.
- Despair Event Horizon: After enduring a long Trauma Conga Line stretched out over two seasons, poor Meera finally reaches this point at the start of the episode, breaking down in Bran's arms when it looks certain that the wights are about to kill them.
- Dragon Rider: Daenerys rides Drogon once again, to show her reconnecting with her roots as a conqueror.
- Dude, Not Funny!: In a reversal from the previous episode, now it's a girl who's laughing at the portrayal of Joffrey's death, and the other viewers giving her dirty looks.
- Establishing Character Moment: Randyll's disdain for his son is palpable even before opening his mouth, with his Kubrick Stare speaking volumes, and the first words to come out are calling Sam fat.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Randyll Tarly (although more extremely unpleasant than evil at this stage) may be horrible to his eldest son, but it's clear that at the very least he deeply respects and admires his wife, and will put up with things he deems beneath his house for her sake.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Randyll Tarly's voice is deep, gravely, and menacing, though he's not (yet) straight-up evil, just racist, anti-intelectual, thoroughly unpleasant, and a shitty dad.
- Failed a Spot Check:
- Arya doesn't notice the waif standing backstage in plain sight and undisguised, though she may have been distracted by everything else going on.
- The Small Council's scheme to dispose of the High Sparrow ends up falling flat on its face when they fail to take into account that Tommen would fall under his sway. Turns out scheming behind the king's back and intentionally leaving him out of their meetings has finally come back to bite the Small Council in the butt.
- Fantastic Racism: Randyll Tarly proves that even as far south as the Reach, the Westerosi regard the wildlings as scum.
- Foil: Ser Jaime Lannister and Lord Mace Tyrell, the two commanders during the showdown with the Sparrows. Only one is a true leader. Jaime is brash and climbs the stairs mounted on his steed with great élan and determination, and Mace is... Mace, a meek puppet of his mother, not even holding the reins of his own horse.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: For once, it's Cersei who's playing the (temporary) voice of reason to her brother, advocating caution rather than just go in guns blazing at the High Sparrow as Jaime is loudly advocating. She agrees with Jaime that the Lannisters have to destroy their enemies but believes it has to be done step-by-step.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Bran's vision montage has several, including a close-up of Aerys II the Mad King as well as images of the pyromancers mixing the "substance", while others are images from previous episodes.
- From Bad to Worse: The nobles hold on King's Landing was already tenuous, but the fact that Tommen has joined the Crown with the Faith Militant has made things even worse than before.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Subverted. Hodor may have held the door well, but his sacrifice only bought Bran and Meera a small amount of time. The wights were not about to give up the chase anytime soon, and the two of them would have certainly perished had Benjen not shown up.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: The Braavosi play again, where Tyrion is portrayed as deliberately poisoning Good King Joffrey, and then killing his own father apparently just For the Evulz. Of course, they are no doubt going by the official story from Westeros, and don't know any better.
- Hitman with a Heart: A girl must choose whether to follow the mission assigned to her by the Faceless Men to kill a likable actress who's done nothing wrong, or save her target at the expense of becoming one herself. Ultimately, Arya is unable to go through with killing Lady Crane, and saves her knowing that the Faceless Men will be after her.
- Hope Spot: During the tense showdown, Jaime seemingly forces the High Sparrow to back down, but then the Sparrow reveals a trump card up his sleeve; King Tommen has been recruited into the Faith.
- Hostage Situation: After being told they lack the troops or supplies necessary to retake Riverrun from the Blackfish, Walder elects to use Edmure as a hostage as a means of retaking the castle.
- Ironic Echo: Jaime telling Tommen "You don't have to do anything" sounds a lot like Joffrey's assertion that "I don't have to do anything." It seems to finally hit Jaime that maybe having a king who does as he's told isn't a big improvement.
- Irony: Jaime's dismissal from the Kingsguard is staged very similar to Ser Barristan's, down to removing his armour publicly before the court, only here it feels like he's been cashiered
rather than quitting like a boss. - In the Back: We see Jaime stabbing the Mad King this way in Bran's vision briefly.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing: Randyll Tarly, upon realizing Gilly is a wildling, proceeds to call her "it" at the dinner table with her right there at the table with him.
- Jerkass:
- Randyll Tarly. He manages to be even worse than what Sam's been telling us for 5 and a half seasons. He's unpleasant and he insults Sam and Gilly to their faces.
- Izembaro outright rejects Lady Crane's idea to make the play better before even listening it, dismissing her as just a pair of breasts.
- Jock Dad, Nerd Son: A variation of this between Sam and his father, Randyll Tarly. Randyll despises Sam for being fat and more interested in books than being a hunter or warrior.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: It seems that after committing the Red Wedding, Walder Frey found out exactly what happens if you commit an extreme violation of one of the most sacred traditions in the world (on top of his already extremely low popularity). His subjects have started rising up against him, and as a result his army and resources are dwindling.
- Know When to Fold Them: Upon seeing the Sparrow's alliance with the Crown, Olenna grumbles and admits that "He's won". Cersei also accepts this and tells Jaime to accept his new circumstances as an ex-Kingsguard Lannister general and stay away from the Sparrows.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Lady Crane's discussion with Arya about acting got a bit meta with this, asking her if she likes to pretend to be other people. Arya goes by a fake name to be incognito, is trying to lose her old identity and literally pretend to be someone else, and Maisie Williams is playing Arya.
- Living Prop: In The Bloody Hand, Margaery has no lines. She shows up in the to get married to Joffrey and barely reacts as he dies.
- Lovable Jock: Like the aforementioned Jock Dad, Nerd Son, other than his disbelief in White Walkers, which is the cultural norm in the Andal south, Dickon is rather respectful and nice towards his elder brother.
- The Man Behind the Man:
- Subtly, Olenna instructs Mace what actions must the Tyrell men-at-arms take by signaling him with her hand fan. The subtlety is all dropped when Mace just turn around her mom and asks her what is going on.
- The High Sparrow installs himself as the true power behind the Iron Throne.
- Meaningful Name: Arya chooses the fake name Mercy when her assigned target asks.
- Mentor: Lady Crane assumes that Arya/Mercy is an aspiring actress like herself, and takes the time to talk with her, give her advice, and share her own experiences.
- Mood Whiplash: Reflected in Arya's changing face. She is amused by Joffrey's demise at first, but after a bit she begins to appreciate the tragedy conveyed by Lady Crane with her acting.
- Murder Is the Best Solution: After being publicly humiliated and booted out of the Kingsguard thanks to the High Sparrow manipulating Tommen, Jaime declares his next plan is to have Bronn hire the best assassins he can find, then storm the Sept and kill the High Sparrow in his sleep. Cersei shoots the idea down, insisting Jaime and his men won't get close enough to succeed.
- Mythology Gag:
- In some ways, Tywin's death as portrayed in The Bloody Hand is closer to the book than the series. They even created sound effects for him shitting himself and "Tyrion" finally got to say the line about his father not shitting gold that fans missed badly when the actual Tywin died.
- Arya uses the alias "Mercy" when Lady Crane asks for her name. In a "Winds of Winter" preview chapter concerning a plot that the series is not adapting, Arya uses the name "Mercedene" (shortened to "Mercy") when the Faceless Men have her join Izembaro's theater troupe.
- Negated Moment of Awesome: Lord Mace Tyrell, Lord of Highgarden, Lord Paramount of the Reach and Warden of the South, arrives at the head of his army to rescue his children, very confident and in a position of strength for once... but his great hour never comes. His speech fails to arise his troops and the High Sparrow plays him and the others like royal chumps. Mace being Mace, he also fails to grasp what has happened and has to ask his mother for clarification.
- New Era Speech: Tommen declares that the Faith and the Crown have a new alliance which shall restore the Seven Kingdoms to glory.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Arya botches her mission on purpose, destroying any chance at redemption among the Faceless Men.
- The Lannister-Tyrell army play right into the Sparrow's arms, and he manages to usurp public support by the populace from the Crown to the Faith.
- In standing up to Lord Tarly and extolling Samwell's deeds, Gilly lets it slip that she's a wildling and thus ruins her chances for a somewhat pleasant and safe stay at Horn Hill.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Benjen was in the middle of being turned into a wight when the Children performed the White Walker ritual on him, creating an entirely new supernatural being.
- Not Now, Kiddo: Jaime's plan could have worked if anyone actually cared to see what the king was up to or at least where he was. But since Tommen is a kid and a Puppet King, no one cared until they realized someone else took the strings.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Jaime has this reaction when he sees Tommen walking out from the Great Sept with his guards wearing the Faith of the Seven symbol on their chest plates, realizing the High Sparrow convinced Tommen to join them.
- Gilly's and Samwell's faces go "oh no" when they realize Gilly just revealed where she really came from.
- Orcus on His Throne: Walder Frey is still running things from his throne at the Twins. No wonder he lost Riverrun.
- Out-Gambitted: The High Sparrow beats the nobles again without much of a problem.
- Papa Wolf: Mace Tyrell personally leads the army to rescue his children.
- Paper Tiger: The usually ridiculous Mace Tyrell looks really imperative at the head of his army in full battle gear. The impression wanes quickly, Lord Tyrell is not even riding his horse (which is being led on its reins by a footman), Jaime and Olenna are the ones calling the shots, and Mace gets confused by the events.
- Persona Non Grata: Randyll is willing to let Gilly in and provide for her baby as an acknowledged Tarly bastard, but he makes it clear that in exchange Samwell must never return to Horn Hill again.
- Proper Lady: Both Lady Melessa and Talla, who remain quite courteous and nice towards Gilly even after she's revealed to be a wildling. They are so nice that they don't give Sam any complaints or bad looks when he tells them that Gilly's baby is his son.
- Silk Hiding Steel: However, Lady Melessa is no pushover, as she shuts up her husband when he keeps on insulting Sam. Which is probably why Lord Randyll calls her "a fine woman".
- Psychotic Smirk: The waif has a small gleeful smirk on her face after she receives her charge to assassinate Arya.
- Reaction Shot: When Lord Tyrell begins to deliver his hammy speech, Jaime is shown barely hiding his exasperation.
- Reassigned to Antarctica:
- For attempting to attack the Faith Militant, Tommen strips Jaime of his rank as the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and reassigns him to assist in House Frey's campaign to retake Riverrun.
- This is basically what Randyll Tarly thinks has happened to Samwell.
- The Remnant: Brynden Tully's garrison at Riverrun, plus the other Riverlords (the Blackwoods and Mallisters) who are still fighting the Freys and Lannisters - they're the last official holdout of Robb Stark's short-lived Kingdom of the North and Riverlands. Because the Tullys and their vassals didn't have their armies at the Red Wedding, they weren't massacred there along with the Northern army - thus a lot of the ones still fighting are the direct remnants of Robb Stark's original armies and commanders, i.e. Brynden Tully himself.
- Resignations Not Accepted: The Waif gets approval from the Faceless Man to assassinate Arya for her refusal to carry out her assignment.
- Revenant Zombie: Benjen Stark can best be described as a zombified version of his old self after the Children of the Forest performed their dragonglass ritual on him. He is not simply brought Back from the Dead by the power of R'hllor, neither he is a mindless corpse like the Wights, and he is not transformed into an omnicidal monster like the White Walkers, either. That said, he has also taken some characteristics of a Lich, thanks to the powers the Children of the Forest gave him (see Came Back Strong above).
- Rousing Speech:
- Daenerys gives one from Drogon's back to the Dothraki. She asks them to join her on her quest to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. She also chooses them all as her blood riders. (Normally, a khal chooses three blood riders to personally guard him and fight beside him.)
- Mace Tyrell tries to cheer his soldiers and get them excited for the next task, but the execution and the words themselves are mediocre. His army remains silent afterward.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Arya reasserts herself as not "a girl" by stopping Lady Crane from drinking from the poisoned goblet, and telling her who wants her dead.
- Senseless Sacrifice: Toyed with, the cliffhanger of the previous episode is resolved here with the wights catching up with Bran and Meera anyway despite Hodor's sacrifice. But then a mysterious rider appears, and is very effective preventing this trope.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Gilly gets put in one of Talla's dresses for dinner and looks really pretty.
- She Is All Grown Up: Sam's response to his now adult sister Talla.
- She's Back: A girl does not want to be no one, so a girl reclaims Needle, Arya Stark's sword.
- Ship Tease: Bran and Meera get a lot of it this episode, from Meera tearfully stroking Bran's hair when it looks like the two of them are about to die, to the two of them sharing a Security Cling after the fact, to Meera protectively holding onto Bran when he wakes up after their rescue.
- Spanner in the Works: Tommen ends up foiling the Small Council's plan to have the High Sparrow killed when he announces his allegiance to them.
- Stock Ninja Weaponry: Bizarrely, the weapon Benjen uses to rescue Bran and Meera from the wights appears to be a kusari-gama (chain-sickle) with the weighted end able to be set on fire.
- Stylistic Suck:
- Part 2 of the play is still a lowbrow affair filled with bad dialogue and Toilet Humor (which ironically, was actually accurate to the books in that particular scene), though Lady Crane's good acting saves the worst by acting the hell out of her speech.
- Loras might be able to pull the Tyrell-typical overly decorated shiny armor off. His father, on the other hand, looks like a bloated Christmas ornament. Given his persona, this was probably fully intentional.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The new Lady Frey is another plain-looking teenage girl - seemingly younger than the previous one - who says or does absolutely nothing but to idly stand next to her disturbingly old husband through her whole scene while looking quite miserable and scared. He did say he'd "get another one" at the Red Wedding...
- Take That, Audience!: Izembaro's foppish jerkass attitude towards Lady Crane daring to suggest making changes to his play comes across as a jab at people who don't like changes made when adapting books to show, essentially casting anyone with that attitude as a primadona. Of course, there's a boomerang aspect to this, since the play is a poorly-written and pandering affair and Lady Crane is sympathetic enough to change Arya's mind at great personal risk. Arya even summarizes that without Lady Crane's performance, the rest of Izembaro's script is mostly farting, belching, and slapping, and Lady Crane seems to be the only one actually trying to elevate it to a higher standard of art. Leading to the question of if the TV writers intended this as a Take That Us moment.
- The Ghost: Finally averted. In Bran's visions we're finally able to see Aerys II Targaryen (a.k.a. "The Mad King"), terrifyingly screaming his Catchphrase.Aerys: BURN THEM ALL!!!
- The Theocracy: The Seven Kingdoms has officially become one. To signify this, the Kingsguard have the royal sigil embossed with the seven-pointed star.
- The Un-Favourite: Samwell. Dear God, Samwell.
- Took a Level in Badass:
- It's a fair bet that Benjen was not able to use a flaming flail attached to a scythe before being brought back by the Children.
- Samwell does this in his interactions with his family. He very subtly puts his brother down, telling him if you don't hunt beyond the Wall, you don't eat. He also takes the sword that was his by birthright.
- Took the Bad Film Seriously: In-Universe. Lady Crane gives her best, sincere performance in The Bloody Hand, a low-brow Renfair play filled with Toilet Humor and slapstick. She even mentions how she has to do what she can with what script she's been given.
- Tranquil Fury: Cersei is just as angry at the Sparrows for usurping the Kingdom but she's calmer and more cautious about it, unlike Jaime.
- Turn in Your Badge: Jaime is dismissed from the Kingsguard and drops his armour in front of the king.
- The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: A rare inversion. Sam is overweight and pretty average-looking, but his mother finally appears and she's beautiful.
- Uptown Guy: The class difference between Sam and Gilly wasn't really highlighted before due to him being a brother in the Night's Watch. Here you see just how highborn Sam's family is as they return to the Tarly's lavish castle at Hornhill and he's greeted by numerous servants.
- Villainous Breakdown: Walder undergoes one after being informed by his sons that the Blackfish has recaptured Riverrun and at least two Riverlords are now rebelling against the Freys' rule and the Brotherhood Without Banners are rallying the commoners against them as well. When he orders his sons to retake Riverrun, they tell him that they lack the troops necessary to quell the revolt, forcing him to use his remaining hostage Edmure in a desperate gamble to retain power.
- Wham Episode: Tommen joins the Sparrows. Benjen Stark is alive and kicking! (so to speak)
- Wham Shot:
- Tommen is revealed to have been converted to the Sparrows.
- Benjen Stark is revealed as the stranger who saves Bran and Meera from the wights.
- Wham Line: Benjen reveals he was prevented from becoming a wight by the Children of the Forest in the same way they created the Night King.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: What happened to Daenerys's new horse? Did Drogon want a treat?
- While You Were in Diapers: Jaime reminds Tommen that he's been in the Kingsguard before he was born.
- Won the War, Lost the Peace: The Freys are having significant trouble holding onto the Riverlands. They weren't even doing a good job of stopping brigands and deserters from tearing it apart in the aftermath of the war, but now they're facing open defiance from the Tullys, Blackwoods, and Mallisters. The books explain this a bit more clearly, but only the North's army was destroyed at the Red Wedding - the Riverlands armies of the Tullys and their vassals stayed behind in the south fighting on the front lines with the other Lannister armies. As a result, they weren't destroyed at the Red Wedding but mostly surrendered rather than face annihilation. Problem for the Freys is that this means that most of the Riverlords still have relatively intact armies that lived to fight another day.
